United Nations CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4/Add.1 Convention on the Distr.: General 27 October 2011 Rights of the Child English Original: French Committee on the Rights of the Child Fifty-ninth session 16 January–3 February 2012 List of issues concerning additional and updated information (CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4) related to the consideration of the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Madagascar (CRC/C/MDG/3-4) Addendum Written replies by the Government of Madagascar∗ Part I Reply to the issues raised in Part I, paragraph 1 of the list of issues (CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4) (a) Support for single-headed households living in extreme poverty 1. In Madagascar the number of single-headed households is particularly high in the Atsimo Atsinanana region. In 2011, to help abandoned women, heads of household or single mothers under the programme to eradicate extreme poverty initiated by UNDP, 2000 women took advantage of the opportunities for income-generating activities and jobs. 2. The project aims to provide support for vulnerable women in the field of agriculture, handicrafts and obtaining credit for income-generating activities from local microfinance institutions. 3. In agriculture, 1,160 women and young mothers have boosted their incomes and increased the land they cultivate by 14.5 ha over and above the 12.5 ha already under cultivation in 2010. * In accordance with the information transmitted to States parties regarding the processing of their reports, the present document was not edited before being sent to the United Nations translation services. GE.11-46675 (EXT) CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4/Add.1 4. These women from 70 women's groups are spread over the urban municipality of Farafangana and the rural municipalities of Manambotra Sud, Anosikely, Vohilengo, Ambalatany, Namohora Iaborano and Tangainony. 5. In 2010, 1,671 women trained in market gardening were allocated the seed for the intermediate season for off-season crops. 6. In addition, for the intermediate season the project provided 500 kg of rice seed, 500 kg of bamabara groundnut seed and 5,000 kg of organic fertilizer. 7. Access to land and water are nevertheless significant constraints compounded by the poor soil which has a high silica content. 8. In the field of handicrafts, under the programme started in partnership with the Regional Directorate of Technical Education and Vocational Training in the southeast region, in early 2011, 13 urban girls were trained in embroidery and 16 women in basketry. 9. The TIAVO Micro-finance Mutual Institution helped 460 women members to obtain credit through micro-loans, with which they financed their businesses, collecting and marketing rice, coffee, pepper, honey and cinnamon. 10. The State’s main efforts to mitigate the effects of the crisis include: • In 2010, the setting-up of State-subsidized national outlets selling basic commodities at low prices (Tsena Mora); • In 2011, the sale of State-subsidized rice at a low price, and the construction and sale of affordable housing. 11. These measures are intended solely for the vulnerable population. 12. Furthermore, in order to stabilize public-transport costs, the State decided to subsidize fuel prices for the transport operators. (b) Prevention of child abandonment, in particular for families living in poverty 13. To combat cases of abandonment and sale of children from poor families through international adoption, Madagascar adopted new legislation in the form of Act No. 2005– 014 of 7 September 2005 governing international adoption, which provides for a central authority to be set up. 14. The central authority prevents direct adoption, which encourages trafficking in children, among other things. 15. Articles 5 and 6 of the Act set out the tasks and responsibilities of the central authority: • Article 5: The mission of the central authority is to: • Cooperate with central authorities in other countries; • Promote cooperation with all the agencies concerned to ensure that children are protected; • Provide information on all legislation on adoption; • Take all appropriate measures to prevent improper material gain in connection with a placement in an institution approved for adoption or during adoption proceedings. 2 GE.11-46675 (EXT) CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4/Add.1 • Article 6: The central authority is responsible for: • Collecting, keeping and sharing information on the situation of the child and adoptive parents, to the extent necessary to complete the adoption; • Facilitating, monitoring and expediting adoption proceedings; • Promoting the development of counselling services for adoption and the monitoring of adoption; • Granting approval for adoption at an approved social reception centre; • Granting approval for adoption by adoptive parents of Malagasy nationality. Where foreign nationals apply to adopt, the central authority drafts a report for the central authority of their country. 16. In addition, to improve the protection of children against sale through the adoption process, the Penal Code was amended to criminalize illegal adoption. 17. Article 335.4 of the Penal Code provides that: “Anyone infringing the rules laid down by the Adoption Act with intent to carry out an illegal adoption, treated as trafficking, shall be punished with a term of hard labour”. Reply to the issues raised in Part I, paragraph 2 of the list of issues 18. There is currently no single government entity responsible for overall coordination of the policies, laws and programmes relating to children’s rights. 19. However, in the context of the implementation of the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the recommendations were sent to the relevant institutions or ministries for the adoption of any appropriate legislative or judicial reforms or other measures. 20. Accordingly, each authority is taking appropriate measures in its own field: • The Parliament is carrying out legislative reforms to bring national legislation into line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols; • The judiciary is taking steps to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be invoked before the courts; • Each ministry concerned is taking action to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Reply to the issues raised in Part I, paragraph 4 of the list of issues 21. Madagascar has a mechanism for systematically collecting and processing data for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other conventions. It is operated by the national statistics institute (INSTAT). 22. To that end, the institute periodically conducts a number of surveys, in cooperation with technical and financial partners,1 to monitor the situation of mothers and children in Madagascar. 1 Surveys supported by agencies of the United Nations System and the World Bank. GE.11-46675 (EXT) 3 CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4/Add.1 23. The following such surveys have been conducted: • The Population and Health Survey of Madagascar (EDS MD 1992, 1997, 2003– 2004, and the most recent for 2008–2009), conducted every four years; • The Periodic Survey of Households (EPM 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and the most recent for 2011), conducted every two years. 24. INSTAT is also responsible for conducting a major data collection operation, the General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH). It is planned for the years 2011–2012. This census is conducted every ten years and provides a number of indicators including those for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (PA/ICPD), contextual indicators for the Common Country Assessment and Development Assistance Framework (CCA/UNDAF), indicators for monitoring child rights (World Summit for Children in 2000), indicators for Education for All (EFA), the Istanbul + 5 indicators and indicators for the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). 25. INSTAT also processes data from administrative sources on the issue of birth certificates in order to have accurate and up-to-date information for identifying population trends. Information from other ministries and other bodies producing statistical data is also taken into account. 26. To improve data production, in 2008 the Malagasy Government, with the support of technical and financial partners, set up the national strategy for the development of statistics with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of statistics produced. 27. In 2009, 15 regional INSTAT departments were set up under the strategy to decentralize the institute. Furthermore, in 2010, in cooperation with the National Institute for Administrative Training and the National College of Statistics and Applied Economics (ENSEA) in Abidjan, a centre was established for training middle-management statisticians (Assistant and Technical Assistant Statistician). This has helped to fill the gaps in statistical training in Madagascar. 28. At the Ministry of Education, the Department of Educational Planning is responsible for collecting data on schooling and the implementation of Education for All (EFA). Data processing and analysis are useful tools for steering education policy and implementing the activities of the departments concerned. 29. For specifically protecting children, child-protection databases were set up in 2010 by the Ministry of Population and Social Affairs with support from UNICEF. This initiative is part of the “Governance for Child Protection” programme. 30. These databases consist of two components: • A knowledge bank composed of documents relating to studies and research in the field of child protection. • A database on child protection for managing and processing data for the regions, districts and municipalities. 31. The data are classified into five categories with twelve indicators: Category 1 - Prevention: 1. Percentage of children with a birth certificate by municipality; 2. Number of unschooled children (over 6 years of age) by municipality; 4 GE.11-46675 (EXT) CRC/C/MDG/Q/3-4/Add.1 Category 2 - Abuse: 3. Number of children reported as engaged in dangerous work by municipality; 4.